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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. band — a ring
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. last — final
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. land — ground
  9. pound — a weight
  10. last — finally
  11. band — a music group
  12. mark — a grade
  13. last — to go on
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. land — to come down
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. land — a country
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. spring — a coil
  24. mark — a trace

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com